BOSTON — The Bruins have lost two straight games to the Florida Panthers this season. In those contests, Boston committed 17 infractions, including two fights, and resulted in 11 power play opportunities for Florida. Plain and simple, the Bruins are not playing disciplined hockey to begin the 2024-25 season.
“They’re winning the mental side of the battle on us,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after Boston’s 4-3 loss to Florida on Monday. “… It’s all four games that we take at least four minors. You can’t win hockey games that way, and then we can’t lose as many battles as we do. They’re the standard right now in the NHL for winning battles, and we’re not up to that level yet. We have to vastly improve that level.”
Despite Montgomery’s clear stance on the lack of discipline, Brad Marchand wasn’t as concerned with the amount of penalties the Bruins took in Monday’s matinee contest with the Panthers.
“I didn’t think it was that bad tonight,” Marchand said. “There’s other areas of the game that are more concerning that we need to be better in, but, yeah, it’s early (in the season); we’ll work on it and move on.”
Marchand believes the Bruins need to work on their compete level, attention to detail, and winning more battles for the puck, and the power play, which has scored two goals in 18 opportunities.
“I think we just got to be a little stronger in battles,” Marchand said of the power play struggles. “We need to outnumber teams. Just simplify. You have to outnumber the kill in the battles and come up with pucks. We haven’t come up with enough. … We haven’t had a ton of practice time, so it’s something we’ll definitely work on.”
Here are more notes from Monday’s Bruins-Panthers game:
— The fourth line continues to be a catalyst for the Bruins. Johnny Beecher and Mark Kastelic each had a multipoint game on Monday, and Cole Koepke added an assist for a six-point night for the trio.
“They’ve been unbelievable,” Marchand said. “It’s great to see the way they compete and bring it every night. The rest of us need to take a page out of their book and be a lot better, but they’re definitely carrying the weight right now.”
— The Bruins’ blue line chipped in offensively in the loss. Brandon Carlo and Mason Lohrei both potted their first goals of the season after strong play from the fourth line kept the puck in the offensive zone for an extended period of time.
“Kasty made a nice play to give me some space at the blue line,” Lohrei said of his goal. “I was going to shoot it, and then I saw the guy go down, so took it (deeper into the zone).”
— Jeremy Swayman started his third straight game in net for the Bruins. He is 2-1-0 so far this season.
— The Bruins will play three games on the road against Western Conference opponents, beginning with the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Puck drop from Ball Arena is slated for 9:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on TNT. The Black and Gold will return to NESN when they face the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.
